Practical Insight for Building-Trades Leaders
A weekly publication on developing skilled people, strengthening labor-management relationships, and delivering the work.
By Michael Shue, drawing on experience as a Boilermaker, Pipefitter, union steward, instructor, and corporate labor-relations leader.
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NEW BOOK
The Capacity to Build
How Workforce Infrastructure Shapes the Path from Investment to Operation
Capital commitments do not guarantee a workforce capable of delivering the work. This book examines the capability, capacity and coordination it takes to move from investment decisions to completed, operating assets. Available now on Amazon.
Latest Issue
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Labor Relations Under Pressure
Pressure reveals the strength of a labor relationship. When urgency rises, clarity, speed, candor, boundaries, and recovery become critical. The real test…
New here? Start with these three issues
Trust Is the Real Collective Bargaining Agreement
Understand why trust between negotiations shapes what happens at the bargaining table.
Workforce at the Speed of Strategy
Examine the gap between strategic ambition and the time needed to develop capability.
The Front Line is Where Strategy Becomes Real
See how supervisors and crews turn enterprise priorities into everyday decisions.
Put the ideas to work
For workforce leaders
Identify where capability gaps could put execution at risk. The free Workforce Capability Diagnostic takes approximately 10 minutes.
For future craft professionals and advisors
Explore 24 building trades, compare apprenticeship pathways, and plan your next step.
Explore by topic
- Labor-Management Relationships — Bargaining, trust, representation and the everyday decisions that shape working relationships.
- Workforce Planning & Delivery — Building the capability, capacity and coordination needed to deliver the work.
- Apprenticeship & Craft Development — Training systems, career pathways and developing the next generation of craft professionals.
- Frontline Leadership — Turning strategy into decisions, resolving problems and leading where the work happens.